ReviewThe spine journal : official journal of the North American Spine Society2020
Complexities of spine surgery in obese patient populations: a narrative review.
Review in The spine journal : official journal of the North American Spine Society, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 24 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
24 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Pooled it
- Evaluating the impact of body-mass index on short- and medium-term outcomes after lumbar endoscopic decompression surgery: a single‑surgeon, multi‑hospital cohort study.European spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society · 2026Article
- AI parameters for enhancing spine surgery outcomes: a narrative review.Journal of spine surgery (Hong Kong) · 2026Review
- Defining the associations between weight, obesity and outcomes of posterior fossa decompression for Chiari malformation in adolescents.Child's nervous system : ChNS : official journal of the International Society for Pediatric Neurosurgery · 2026Article
- Anesthetic complications of extensive spinal nerve block and total spinal anesthesia during percutaneous endoscopic spinal surgery under local anesthesia.European spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society · 2026Article
- Standardizing Preoperative Care for Elective Spine Surgery: The University of Oklahoma Elective Spine Surgery Protocol.GeroScience · 2026Review
- 'Rebound Phenomenon' - a Cause of Early Cage Back-out in Transforaminal Lumbar Interbody Fusion Surgery: Insights from Case Series of 1545 Patients.Indian journal of orthopaedics · 2025Article
- Ageing and BMI in Focus: Rethinking Risk Assessment for Vertebral Fragility and Pedicle Screw Loosening in Older Adults.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Article
- Unilateral Biportal Endoscopic Discectomy (UBE) Versus Percutaneous Endoscopic Lumbar Discectomy (PELD) for Treating Lumbar Disc Herniation in Obese Patients: A Retrospective Study.Medical science monitor : international medical journal of experimental and clinical research · 2025Article
- Preoperative anemia is associated with increased length of stay in adult spinal deformity surgery: evaluation of a large single-center patient cohort and future suggestions for patient optimization.Spine deformity · 2025Article
- Challenges in Contemporary Spine Surgery: A Comprehensive Review of Surgical, Technological, and Patient-Specific Issues.Journal of clinical medicine · 2024Review
- Treating Multilevel Cervical Degenerative Disk Disease in a Patient With Stage IV Lung Cancer With Notable Comorbidities Using a Drug Eluting Biomaterial: A Case Report.Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. Global research & reviews · 2024Article
- Impact of Obesity, Osteopenia, and Scoliosis on Interobserver Reliability of Measures of the Spinopelvic Sagittal Radiographic Parameters.Spine surgery and related research · 2023Article
- Obesity negatively affects outcomes following arthroscopic rotator cuff repair at four-year follow-up.Shoulder & elbow · 2023Article
- Biportal endoscopic discectomy versus tubular microscopic discectomy for treating single-level lumbar disc herniation in obese patients: a multicenter, retrospective analysis.Acta neurochirurgica · 2023Article
- Image quality and radiation dose in spinal surgery: a comparison of three imaging systems in phantom.Journal of medical imaging (Bellingham, Wash.) · 2023Article
- A standardized anesthetic/analgetic regimen compared to standard anesthetic/analgetic regimen for patients with high-risk factors undergoing open lumbar spine surgery: a prospective comparative single-center study.Neurosurgical review · 2023Article
- Who bleeds during elective anterior lumbar surgery?North American Spine Society journal · 2022Article
- Complications of Spine Surgery in "Super Obese" Patients.Global spine journal · 2022Article
- Does a high BMI affect the outcome of minimally invasive TLIF? A retrospective study of 207 patients.European spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
Abstract
The obese population is particularly challenging to the spine surgeon in all phases of care. A narrative literature review was performed to review difficulties in spine surgery on the obese patient population and techniques for mitigation. We specifically aimed to assess several topics with regard to this population: patient selection and preoperative care; intraoperative and surgical techniques; and postoperative care, outcomes, and complications. The literature review demonstrated that obese patients are at increased surgical risk with spine surgery due to a variety of factors at all stages of intervention. Preoperatively, obese patients have worse outcomes with physical therapy and present technical difficulties for injections. Transport to a hospital, imaging, resuscitation, and intubation are all challenged by increased body habitus. Intraoperatively, obese patients have increased operative times, blood loss, surgical site infections, and nerve palsies. Patient positioning and intraoperative imaging may be limited. Surgery itself may be technically challenging due to body habitus and minimally invasive techniques are becoming more prevalent in this population. Postoperatively, several studies demonstrate that obese patients have inferior outcomes compared with nonobese counterparts. Patient selection is a key for elective interventions, and appropriate infrastructure aids in the ultimate outcomes for both elective and nonelective surgical treatments. Overall, obese patients present several challenges to the spine surgeon, and certain precautions can be undertaken preoperatively, intraoperatively, and postoperatively to mitigate the associated risks to optimize outcomes.
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Registered trials
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